"Unsophisticated! Mercy on us!"
"Oh yes," said Selden, "and he stoutly denies having ever sighed to you, Fenella; and talks a deal of nonsense about friendship, as though such a feeling ever existed between a lad of nineteen and a lady under twenty-five."
"Upon that subject," replied Fenella, "we can at least keep our own counsel."
"Come, Cleaveland," said I, "we are bound in the same direction. I have a few words to say to you, and if you are at leisure we will walk."
"I hope I have not driven you away," said Selden.
"Pshaw! I am not so easily driven."
Tea was over, and Cleaveland and I rose to depart. Fenella accompanied us to the door, and said to me in a monitory tone: "Now, Pertinax, be careful what you do in relation to the caricature. Keep out of difficulty with Mc——. You cannot be of any service to me in that affair, and may injure yourself by your interference. I know your disposition to serve me; but I also know that your impetuosity is more likely to involve you in difficulty than to bring me out of it. Be cautious, I beseech you."
"Do not be alarmed," said I, somewhat piqued, "my indifference will be my protection."
"I do not believe that, nor do I believe that you are indifferent to my feelings; and the caution I now give you is a proof that I do not think so."
A pressure of the hand was my only reply to this conciliatory speech; and we left the house.